


Home for the Holidays

by thestagandthewolf



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Christmas at Winterfell, F/M, LYABERT, Modern AU, Rarepair Secret Santa, Robert is basically a Stark now, The Starks do Christmas Best, They are all a happy family, They are basically a christmas Hallmark Movie, They fall in love at Christmas, With all the cheesy cliches they make fun of, Written for Joana, cute family fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 20:53:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17128550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestagandthewolf/pseuds/thestagandthewolf
Summary: It's become a tradition for Robert to go to Winterfell every year to celebrate Christmas with the Starks, because no one does Christmas like the Northerners. But this year more than ever, things are starting to look just like a Cheesy Christmas Movie.





	Home for the Holidays

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Veridissima](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veridissima/gifts).



> This was written for the lovely, wonderful, and talented Veridissima as part of the Rarepair Secret Santa on Tumblr. Surprise! I am your Secret Santa, Joana! I hope you enjoy.

Robert Baratheon was not a man of tradition. He was more of a play-it-by-ear-and-make-it-up-as-you-go sort of guy. Were finals over and everyone made it through another year at University? Time to throw a last-minute party. Bored one night with nothing to do? Grab the closest person and go explore some abandoned building or walk through the woods in the night. That was just the way that he worked best. Traditions required too much planning. Despite this, though, there was one tradition that Robert clung to every year: his trip up to Winterfell with Ned at Christmas.

This was the longest -and only- standing tradition in Robert’s life. It started back when he was still a kid. Way back when Robert and Ned attended the same Boarding School in the Vale and their life as roommates, best friends, and brothers began. That first year when Christmas time rolled around everyone was starting to get excited about the holidays, partially because of Christmas but mostly because it meant a glorious two weeks off from school. The kids all started sharing stories about their Christmas traditions. Some families took off to warmer climates for the season, if only to show off their massive wealth. Others had feasts large enough to feed the entire Country, or went ice skating, or all gathered around the tree on Christmas eve to sing carols. When it was Robert’s turn he merely shrugged and said that they didn’t really celebrate it.

* * *

_“What do you mean you don’t celebrate Christmas?” Eddard Stark looked positively flabbergasted, mouth hanging open in shock._

_Robert just shrugged again, not quite understanding all the stunned faces that were now pointed at him, “We just never do much at Christmas. My parents are always off on some diplomatic trip or another. Stannis and I usually spend the holidays with a Nanny. Some of them try to give us a Christmas, but most of them are too grumpy about having to work on a Holiday and so they leave us to eat pizza, stay up all night, and play with the piles of gifts our parents leave us. So, I guess that is our tradition? Pizza and Presents.”_

_There was a silent in the room after he finished speaking. Robert didn’t think his story was all that shocking. It seemed normal enough to him. It wasn’t as though they were living in one of those dumb Christmas movies, where people redecorated their entire house and rearranged their life to be filled with everything Christmas. But from the state of everyone else’s expressions, Robert realised that maybe families like that did exist._

_Almost as soon as the silence begun it was broken by a flurry of questions._

_“Are the presents wrapped?”_

_“What about a tree? Don’t you decorate a tree?”_

_“Christmas cookies! Please tell me you at least get Christmas cookies?”_

_“What about Santa? Doesn’t he visit you at all?”_

_To be honest, Robert stopped believing in Santa ages ago. He was almost 9 years. He had figured it all out already. There was no way one man could make it around the entire world in a single night. Not to mention the fact that there was no way a man as fat as that could fit down a chimney. Despite this logic, Robert still got in trouble for telling Stannis the truth. Apparently after you found out the truth you were supposed to lie to everyone and pretend that the old man is real. So, Robert didn’t answer that last question. In fact, he was saved from answering any questions by Ned, who finally wiped the shock off his face and instead perked up with a sudden idea._

_“Well, it’s settled then. You are coming home with me for Christmas,” Ned stated, not even bothering to ask Robert if he was interested. He knew the answer already. Of course Robert would go to Winterfell with Ned. That would mean two more whole weeks of the year where they got to cause mischief together and have fun. “Come on, we can both call our parents and let them know the change of plans.”_

* * *

Just like that a tradition was born. Robert was welcomed into the Stark house as easily as though he was a long-lost brother. That was the first year Robert experienced what Christmas was supposed to be like, and he quickly got accustomed to all the traditions the Starks stuck to. They went out to the Wolf’s Wood and cut down a tree themselves, and then decorated it together. Mrs. Stark made Gingerbread cookies, Christmas pudding, and all sorts of other delectable goodies, all the while swatting little hands away as they tried to taste everything before it was even baked. Then they would go out ice skating on the frozen pond nearby or tobogganing down the biggest hills they could find and spend hours outside in the snow pelting each other with snowballs and seeing who could build the biggest fort. They would only go back inside once the sun went down and everything started getting dark. After that, after hours outside in the cold, they would go inside dripping with snow, tear off their snowsuits and boots and rush to the fireside to warm up with the Hot Cocoa that Mrs. Stark had waiting for them. She didn’t even get mad at them for creating a pile of snow at the front door. She just picked up the stuff and put it by the fire to dry. All five children -Robert and Ned along with Brandon, Lyanna, and Benjen- would spend the rest of the night playing board games or watching Christmas movies before crashing in their beds. The next day they would get up and repeat the process. 

It quickly became Robert’s favourite part of the year. He even started bringing presents for every member of the Stark family each year. He was all but adopted by the Stark Family. In his honor, Mr. Stark surprised Robert the next year with a Gold and Black stocking, adorned with a stag, hung by the fire alongside the other Stark Children’s. 

Years later this tradition continued. Even after Robert and Ned had both graduated from boarding school and then enrolled in the University of King’s Landing together. Each year they still trekked up to Winterfell at Christmas to celebrate with the rest of the Stark family. Nowadays they would pack up their stuff in Robert’s old car, the car Robert had dubbed ‘Bessie’ and insisted on keeping no matter how many times it died on him, then they would stop at the gas station and load up on all the crappy food they could find and start the long drive North. The road trip to Winterfell was part of the fun, filled with good laughs and terrible games that mostly consisted of different reasons to punch each other in the name of a game. 

This year was different though. This year, instead of the two of them, there were three people stuffed into Bessie: Robert, Ned, and the little Starkling Lyanna. 

It was Ned’s little sister’s first year at UKL. 

To be perfectly fair though, she couldn’t be considered little anymore. 

Robert had always viewed Ned’s little sister as just that, little. She was always there when they returned to Winterfell at Christmas time, following them around, insisting that she was big and strong enough to join in anything they did. Robert had to give it to her, Lyanna had quite a penchant for proving herself, and she rarely backed down from a challenge. If the boys built a big jump while sledding, Lyanna was always the first one to offer to try it out, just to prove herself, even if it did land her in a pile of snow. When they started a snowball fight, she threw with all her might and soon they all wanted her on their side. 

No matter how hard she tried to fit in though, she was still always the little sister. That first year that Robert joined the Stark’s for Christmas, Lyanna was only six. Robert was at the age where he didn’t want anything to do with girls. Once he got to the age where he was interested in girls, he barely viewed Lyanna as one. She was still a little kid to him. He thought she would always remain that way. Until, of course, she started attending University with him and Ned. Then, somehow, everything started to change.

She wasn’t a little kid anymore. That was clear enough to see, it didn’t take more than one look at her to notice that. But more than that, the more time she spent at Robert and Ned’s dorm, the more Robert started to get to know her as a person rather than just his best friends little annoying sister. Somewhere along the line in the few months since she started school, Robert and Lyanna had become friends in their own right. They were no longer only connected through Ned. 

It started off with Lyanna visiting Ned in his dorm almost daily since they were so close. Robert invited himself to these visits, of course, never wanting to be left out. At first there was almost a rivalry between Robert and Lyanna, each one trying to prove to the other that they knew Ned better. Each trying to out do one another as Ned’s best friend. Lyanna would bring up stories about their childhood when she and Ned were nearly inseparable. In response, Robert would regale her with stories about his time with Ned at Boarding school, making sure that they were even better stories than hers. Ned was stuck in the middle, of course, but it didn’t last long. Eventually Robert and Lyanna stopped playing tug of war with Ned and instead started bonding with each other. First they bonded over telling embrassing stories about Ned, much to his dismay, but eventually their conversations shifted away from Ned completely. They started finding shared interests, or, more often, things to argue about -which included everything from the correct way to wash dishes to who would win in a fight: an Ent from Lord of the Rings or King Kong. 

As their friendship progressed, Robert and Lyanna started spending time together even when Ned wasn’t there. Lyanna would pop into their dorm at all hours of the day and she and Robert would hang out. Robert took Lyanna to her first ever College party, and then subsequently took care of her drunk ass for the rest of the night until she passed out. They spent countless hours together on the couch in his and Ned’s dorm watching TV until the wee hours of the morning, making fun of the crazy commercials that only aired after 3AM. All in all, they became close, and somewhere along the line Lyanna Stark became incredibly important the Robert Baratheon. 

And so, this year it was the three of them that piled into Bessie to drive across the Country to Winterfell. They figured out a system quickly enough. The driver was to focus on driving, the person in the passenger seat was in charge of music and snack distribution, and the person in the back got to sleep. They rotated into each spot and made it to the North in record time. 

Ned drove the last stretch, with Robert in the front seat and Lyanna asleep in the back as they pulled into Winterfell. Mr. and Mrs. Stark rushed out of the house to greet them, practically pulling them from the car before they had a chance to undo their seatbelts. 

“You’ve made it! We weren’t expecting you until this evening!” Lyarra Stark exclaimed as she pulled Robert into a warm embrace, “Don’t tell me you drove all night,” She gave him a stern look that was enough to make even Robert Baratheon ashamed. 

“We took turns sleeping in the back, and switched out driving every few hours.” Robert tried to argue, still looking sheepish. Mrs. Stark shook her head and made a disapproving sound, but she was still smiling when she let go of him and moved on to Ned. 

“I suppose that is where Lyanna is then? Sleeping? Or did she annoy you too much, so you left her at some pit stop along the way?” Rickard Stark joked as he came around the car and pulled Robert into a fatherly hug.

“Yeah, we threw her out somewhere around the Neck. Guess it will be a Lya-less Christmas this year,” Robert threw back, sharing a smile with his host.

“Come on, lets get the luggage inside, Lyarra has lunch waiting for you,” Rickard clapped Robert on the back and they went to the trunk to start unloading the bags. Ned had already been ushered inside by his mother who was worrying over whether he was eating enough and whether or not he had been keeping an eye on his sister at school. Which left Robert and Rickard to empty the car themselves. They left Lyanna to sleep a little longer while they unpacked since she had a good portion of the driving in the middle of the night.

* * *

“There’s only a few things left. I’ve got them,” Robert threw over his shoulder as he walked back out into the snow towards the car, after he and Mr. Stark had already done a couple trips. The snow was just starting to fall, little flakes dancing down from the clouds slowly. This was what Robert loved most about spending Christmas with the Starks, snow was a guarantee. There was always a white Christmas at Winterfell. Down in Storm’s End, snow was a rarity. It only ever happened once every few years, but up there in the North it was a constant. After all these years of spending Christmas with the Starks, Robert was starting to understand why the Northerners were so festive at this time of the year. It was hard not to get into the spirit when it was like walking straight into a Christmas carol everywhere you went. 

Robert was leaning into the trunk of the car, collecting all the loose items and throwing them in a bag to bring inside, when something hard and cold exploded on his back. He froze for a split second and then slowly straightened up. He knew who the culprit was before he turned to look, and when he did, there she was. Lyanna Stark was standing a few meters away from him, knee deep in snow, no coat on, no gloves, with a snowball in her hand and the widest grin on her face. 

“Really, Lya?” He questioned, but he could not help the smile that broke out across his face.

Almost as soon as it had though, and before he could say anything else, Lyanna threw the next snowball with pinpoint accuracy and it collided into his face. 

Robert shook his head to clear the snow from his face, “Oh, you’re going to get it now!” He roared, laughing as he quickly scooped up a fistful of snow and threw it her way. Lyanna squealed and dodged it easily, but Robert was quick, and he had already formed another snowball. This time it hit its mark, the snow exploding back into a thousand flakes as it hit her in the shoulder. Lyanna threw herself behind a snow bank, and Robert took the opportunity to hastily make up a stock pile of snowballs, knowing she was doing the same behind her mock-fortress. 

Her head popped up over the little bank, and the assault of the snow began. There was a flurry of snowballs flying through the air. Some hit Lyanna, some hit Robert, a few even made it into the trunk of the car. The last one she threw hit him in the face again, and she quickly ducked back behind the snow bank to make some more. Instead of doing the same though, Robert scooped up as much snow as he could carry and darted towards her shelter, his footsteps muffled by the snow. He then dumped the armload of snow on her unsuspecting head making her yelp and jump back up.

“You cheater!” She shouted, and in one bound she had leapt over the pile of snow and onto Robert. Not expecting this new form of attack, Robert lost his balance and the two of them fell backwards, the snow softening their landing. As soon as they landed, Lyanna grabbed fistfuls of snow and pushed them in Robert face. Robert was about to retaliate when Mr. Stark poked his out the front door asking if Robert needed help with the bags.

“Already, you two?” He asked as Robert and Lyanna looked up at him, both breathless with laughter. Shaking his head, Rickard chuckled, “Come on in and get warmed up, you can finish your war later, Lyarra is waiting with lunch.”

At once Lyanna jumped to her feet and ran to her father greeting him with a big hug. Robert got up, shook the snow off of himself the best he could and then grabbed the last couple bags from the car and followed them into the house.

Lyarra was not impressed to see the pair of them, coatless, soaking wet, and leaving a trail of snow behind, going off about how they will catch a cold or freeze to death. She then forced them both down in front of the fire and disappearing into the kitchen. She came back a few minutes later with a plate of sandwiches and two cups of steaming Hot Chocolate. 

Brandon and Benjen came down stairs to join them and the seven of them all sat around the fire eating lunch and catching up on everything they had missed over the past few months. In fact, they stayed like that for most of the day passing stories back and forth, planning their holiday activities in the coming weeks, and constantly snacking on the many goodies Mrs. Stark kept bringing out from the kitchen. 

Soon the afternoon wore into evening, and evening turned into night, and one by one the Starks filed off to bed. Unsurprisingly, Ned was the first one off to bed, followed closely behind by Lyarra and Rickard. Brandon was the next to disappear to his room to go talk to his girlfriend on the phone. Finally, it was just Robert, Lyanna, and Benjen sprawled out across the living room watching one of those horrible Christmas movies that come out in droves each year. They were all basically the same movie just with different unknown actors. Robert and Lyanna had taken to making fun of it every two seconds or so.

“Let me guess, now the guy is going to realise he loves her and rush to her house only to find her gone already.” Robert piped up as soon as the sad music montage came on.

“You’re forgetting his mad dash to the store to buy her that one gift she said she always wanted,” Lyanna added with a snort.

“But as soon as he gets there the store will be closing because it closes early on Christmas eve,”

“But he will tell his sob story to the owner who will be filled with the Christmas spirit enough to stay open late and help him find the gift, even though we all know he would be annoyed as fuck like any good retail worker should be,”

“And when he finally finds her at the airport, or a bar, or in that one place that means a lot to her, he will give her the gift and she will magically believe in Christmas again,”

“Then they will flash forward to next Christmas where she is the most festive person on the block,”

“With the last shot zooming out to reveal her pregnant belly, even though she made it perfectly clear she didn’t want kids,”

“What is the point in even watching this movie then?” Benjen interjected, sounding slightly annoyed, although he was trying to hide it. He wasn’t doing a good job at that though. Lyanna lifted her head from Robert’s shoulder to look at her little brother with an amused grin on her face.

“What’s wrong, little pup? Mad that we spoiled the movie for you? I didn’t realise you were so invested in the plotline.” Robert jeered, earning himself an eye roll from the youngest Stark.

“No, I didn’t even want to watch this!” Benjen threw his hands up, exasperated, “You two were the ones that insisted we watch this. I wanted to watch literally anything else, but you guys wouldn’t give up.”

“Don’t lie, Benny,” Lyanna taunted, “We all know how much you love these sort of movies. You probably dream about being the leading man and falling in love with the quirky misunderstood lady,”

“Or maybe-” Robert started, but was quickly interrupted by Lyanna jolting up to a sitting position.

“Maybe he already has? Are you in love Benny?”

Benjen rolled his eyes and let out a loud, exaggerated sigh as only a teenage boy was capable of, but instead of getting up and walking away from the taunting, he turned a pointed look at his sister, “What? Like you two?” He asked, gesturing to where Lyanna and Robert were sitting together on the couch. They had spent most of the movie wrapped up together, Robert’s arm around her, Lyanna curled to his side with her head on his shoulder, a knitted blanket draped around them both. It was not that out of the ordinary for them though. It had become an old habit of theirs after spending countless nights on the couch in Robert’s dorm staying up late watching TV or movies. There wasn’t anything _romantic_ about it. They were just very close. 

Robert watched Lyanna closely as the question was posed to her, though. He was curious as to how she would respond. He was expecting her to scoff and say something about how she could never love someone like Robert. He was expecting her to go off on a tangent about all the many things she could never love about him, and how he was simply Ned’s annoying friend. He was not expecting the tinge of pink that seeped across her face as she averted her eyes and told her brother to “Just shut up and watch the movie.”

“Whatever, I’m going to bed,” Benjen decided, the smallest, smug, smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. He rolled out of the big armchair he had been occupying and went up the stairs towards his room, leaving Lyanna and Robert alone with their crappy movie.

Robert was still trying to figure out what exactly just happened. Lyanna was not the type to blush like a little girl and back down from an argument. So, her reaction was a bit of a puzzle to him. He knew better than to get too hopeful though. This was still Lyanna Stark. She was unpredictable. She was strong and ferocious and wild. She would never be caged up by love. Would she?

But despite all the warning and rules he had put in place for himself, Robert couldn’t help the spark of hope that lit in his chest at the sight of that faint blush on her cheeks. He gave up a long time ago trying to pretend he wasn’t completely smitten with Lyanna Stark. It was easy for the first few weeks, putting it all off on the fact that she had grown into a drop-dead gorgeous woman, and that she was easy to get to know since he had known her half his life. After a few weeks though, it was harder to deny his inclination towards her. So, he started setting up rules for himself, very few of which he actually stuck to. Number one on the list was clear though: **Do Not fall in love with Lyanna Stark.**

She was his best friend’s little sister after all. And Ned was like a brother to him. That made Lyanna like a sister. Which made falling in love with her completely off the table. Except that it didn’t. Except for the fact that despite all his arguments against it, Robert Baratheon had completely and utterly fallen in love with his Best Friend’s Little sister.   
It wasn’t until their road trip to Winterfell that Robert gave up denying the truth and set about trying to think of a way to get over said feelings. An idea easier said than done when they were trapped in a car together for hours on end. Most of the trip was spent with them in the front, talking, arguing, singing horribly to terrible music, and playing stupid games you could only play on a road trip. Even when Robert was supposed to be in the back taking his turn to sleep, he stayed awake, hanging on to every word she said, and smiling at her as she found another Volkswagen Beetle and punched Ned in the arm with all her strength. It was hard to sleep when she was there. It was hard to do anything when she was there. It was now official. Lyanna had officially broken him.

The only thing that kept him from blurting out the truth and pulling Lyanna in and kissing her until they were both left breathless, was the fact that she didn’t feel the same. Or at least, Robert always assumed that was the case. But as she curled back up in his arms, and leaned her head on his shoulder to continue watching the movie, Robert started questioning this thing he always thought was fact. He tried not to dwell on it too much. Things were good as they were. He didn’t want to change that now with the risk of everything blowing up in their faces. 

They continued watching the movie in silence. It really was a horrible movie. Nothing ever worked out like that in real life. Where two unlikely people fall in love and overcome all obstacles to the soundtrack of knock-off Christmas songs. Where they happen to land under the mistletoe, or get stuck in a snow storm together, and all their previous hatred fades away into love. It was ridiculous.

The movie ended exactly how they had predicted it would end, but still they sat there, warm in each other’s arms watching the names scroll up the screen. For a moment Robert wondered if Lyanna had fallen asleep, but then she grumbled against his chest, “I’m hungry.”

“Do you think your mom made any of those tiny pies this year?” Robert asked, practically tasting them already from memory alone, “You know, the ones she said she wasn’t going to make again because no one eats them so me and Brandon ate all of them in one sitting?”

Lyanna laughed, “That was disgusting. There was like 40 pies.”

“They were little.”

“Still. But yeah, she did promise you she would make them again and she would never say no to you. You are the favourite after all.” 

Robert beamed smugly despite the fact that Lyanna couldn’t see him. She jumped to her feet quickly, startling Robert, who was worried something happened until she saw the challenging grin on her face.

“But, I’m going to have the first one of the season,”

Robert snorted but stood up at once, accepting the challenge. As if the little She-Wolf could beat him. They took off running at the same time, their socked feet sliding against the wooden floor making them crash into the walls. Robert grabbed Lyanna around the waist and spun her around to get ahead of her, but she was quick. They both got to the kitchen at the same time and grabbed the handle of the Refrigerator. She tried to peel his fingers off, as he let out a roar of a laugh and tried to shove her aside with his hip. 

“Shh, your going to wake the entire house,” Lyanna pressed a hand over his mouth, which gave Robert the edge he needed to yank open the door to the fridge. His eyes scanned the shelf finding the plate of mini pies, and he reached out and snatched one before Lyanna could even get around him to look. He stepped back and held the pastry above her head, just out of her reach.

“Going to get the first one are you? I don’t think so, Little Stark.”

Lyanna glared up at him, her eyes going back and forth from the pie to his face. Robert wasn’t sure what he was expecting her to do, but it certainly wasn’t what came next. Lyanna Stark grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled his face down, crashing her lips into his. It took a moment for him to realise that she was kissing him, really kissing him. Not some half-assed distraction kiss, but one full of heat and passion and lips and tongue. His arms wrapped around her almost immediately, reacting to the moment, and she let him pull her closer. Her own hands relaxed their grip on shirt, falling to rest on his chest, his waist, or maybe his arms, he wasn’t sure. They melted into that kiss together, losing track of the moment, as the world seemed to freeze them there. Then, just as she was the one to start it, Lyanna was the one to pull away. She did so slowly, giving them both a moment to breathe, to think, to find themselves again. After a moment, Robert was the one to break the silence. 

“What was-“ He started, not actually sure how he was going to finish that question. But Lyanna saved him by answering.

“You are under the mistletoe,” She grinned.

Robert looked up and sure enough he had backed up into the doorway of the kitchen, where Mrs. Stark hung mistletoe so that she could give each of her children a kiss on the cheek when they entered the kitchen to pilfer some food. With half a laugh, Robert looked back down at Lyanna just in time to see her biting into the pie. The pie that had somehow gotten from his hand into hers.

“You little monster,“ Robert shook his head, but he was smiling. It seemed as though he was wrong. He had stepped right into one of those cheesy Christmas movies that he and Lyanna loved to watch and make fun of. And the little spark of hope in his chest grew into a flame, as he snatched the pie back from Lyanna’s hand and bit into it, earning himself a growl from the She Wolf as she pounced back into the fight.

**Author's Note:**

> This one got quite long because I had so much fun writing it. I am thinking about maybe expanding it and turning it into a series. Let me know if you all like it!


End file.
